Railway motor car



H. E. ROBESON RAILWAY MOTOR CAR My i 1o, 1927. l 1,628,513

Filed Jan.l8, 1926 2 Sheets-Shea?l l,

IN V ENTOR:`

1927. May lo H. E. RoBEsoN RAILWAY MOTORvCAR Filed Jan.18. 1926 2 sheets-snee#v 2 IN V EN TOR.

' ATTORNEY Patented May 10,4 1927.

-Eawxms n. RoisEsoN, or GARNER, TEXAS.

RAILWAY MOTORCAR.

Application led ilanuary 18, 1926 Serial No. 82,103.

This linvention relates to certain new and `1seful improvements in railway motor ca rs, md particularly to motor cars of that type known as section cars. v

Cars of this character should be strong in construction, in order to stand the strains to which they are subjected in use, but they are also required to be light in weight, in

injuries to the car and passengers. It is fre-- quently necessary for such cars to be taken ofi' the track at places where there is no rest or set-off, in order to clear theway for traveling trains, and this is often a timeconsuming and laborious'operation and frequently it is impossible for the crew to remove the car in time to prevent it from being struck by a passing train, thereby causm serious accidents. With section cars of ordlnary construction, breaking of axles, bearings or flanges of wheels is often caused by the same stri-king against the rails in the operation of applying the car to or remov' ing it from the track.

One object of my inventionis to provide means for bracing the frames of side cars, whereby greater' rigidity ishensured to prevent excessive vibration, also to prevent undue lateral swaying tending to cause the lcar to run off the rails, and alsor to prevent the car from entirely running off the rails in the event of any tendency of the i'anges of the wheels to jump the rails.y

provide reinforcing rails serving the functions set forth, to reinforce the frame and. actas guard ralls, and which are further l adapted to perform the function of sled A further object of the invention is tol without causing damage to the running of the car.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section,- on the line 1-1 of .Figure 2, through the frame and so much of a section car structure as is necessary to illustrate my invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the same. Y

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

. Figure 4 is a similar section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figures 5 and 6 are side views of the guard and skid rails at opposite sides of the car.

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail transverse section on the line 7-7 of Figures 5 and 6.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a car frame is shown which, in general, may be one in common use. VThis frame includes topand bottom outer sills 1 and 2 and top and bottom inner sills 3 and 4 at one side of the frame, and a single sill 6 at the opposite side of the frame.

Cross pieces 7 extend between these sills and form, with cross pieces 8 fastened to the sills 1, 2,-3 and 4, the frame structure proper of the car. This frame structure carries a platform9 of suitable-type,'suitable Seats 10, a driving motor ll and a fuel supply tank 12.

The pairs of sills,1-2, 3 4, are united by bolts 13 and spacers 14, and the said sills carry bearings 15 for axles 16 on which are mounted flanged wheels 17, which are arranged for rotation between the said sills 1, 2, 3 and 4 at oneside of the car frame. At the op osite side of the car frame the cross bars carry bearings 18 for-the axles 19 on which the fianged wheels 2O at the opposite side ofthe car frame are mounted. In practice, the motor 11 may be geared to one of the shafts 16 for transmitting driv ing power thereto for the purpose of ropelling the vehicle, and suitable connectlons between the motor 11 and fuel tank 12 are employed, as well as controlling devices for governing the action of the motor. These Ll tl .spacers 29.

have not been shown as they are unimportant and constitute no part olf my invention, and as means for this purpose ol' the kind in common use may be employed.

.In accordance with my invention, I provide reinforcing, guard and skid rails 21 and 22 ol similar form and construction, but oi different lengths, at the opposite sides ot the car frame. ils shown, each of these rails is ot angle metal type, having a horizontal flange or web 23 and a depending vertical flange or web 24. Each rail is provided adjacent its ends with obliquely disposed oil'sets 25 terminating in end portions 2G lying above the plane of the body ot the rail and parallel therewith. rllhe rail 21 is disposed at one side ot the car beneath the inner lower sill Ll and is secured at its ends thereto by bolts 2T passing through the horizontal web of the ends 26 and through the sills 3 and Il and the intervening spacers 14. it intermediate points the rail 21 is also secured to the sillfl by bolts 28 passing through the web 23, the said sill 4t and intermediate The rail 22 at the opposite side of the car extends beneath the sill 6 and has its end portions 26 secured by bolts 30 to said sill and to the adjacent ends of the cross bars 7 or the bearings 18, while at intermediate points the rail 22 is secured to the sill 6 by bolts 31 passing through the web 23 of said rail, the sill G and intervening spacers 32. The construction and arrangement ot the angle metal rails 21 and 22 is thus such as to form braces beneath the sills which are firmly and rigidiy tied thereto and which strengthen the framework to give it greater rigidity and .freedom troni excessive vibration, and which further serve to resist lateral or tacking motions of the frame in the travel et the wheels over rough and uneven track rails, thus preventing` to a large extent the tendency of the flanges of the wheels to ride over the track rails and throw the carv on" the track.

It will also be observed that the bars 21 and 22 lie close to and in parallel relation with the anges of the wheels l and 20, with their depending flanges 24 lying just above the line of the heads of the track rails and the lower edges of the wheel anges.

By this arrangement the rails 21 and 22 are` adapted to serve as guard rails to prevent total displacement of the ea r from the track, in the event that one or more of the wheels should jump the track rails, the guard rails servingto abut against the track rails and to keepV the car in alinernent therewith and prevent it from being thrown at an angle oft the track, so that in case of partial displacement damage will be prevented or reduced to the minimum. The arrangement of the. reinforcing and guard rails is also such that their body portions will serve as supports or sled runners to adapt the car to inesatta be easily and conveniently shifted onto or oil' the track. In shifting the car oil the track it is simply necessary to turn the same until the wheels at the front or rear, that is, at one end of the car, are shifted ofi the rails, whereby on turning the car the offsets 25 ol the rails 21 and 22 at the opposite end of the car may be brought to rest on the balls of the track rails as guiding surfaces, allowing the car to be pushed until the lower edges ot the iianges 24- ride on the balls ot the rails and serve as runners, so that the car may be easily slid oil' the track lrails. In applying the car to the rails, one end of the car is turned to face the track rails and the offsets 25 at such end brought intoengagement as guiding surfaces with the track rails-` whereupon the car may be slid into position upon the track through a sliding motion ol the guardrails on the track rails. TV ith this construction, the car may be removed from the track with greater ease and convenience and less effort than a car ol ordinary construction, and also in materially less time, this diil'erence in time being of import-ance .in preventing accidents. Another advantage incident to the use of the rails 21 and 22 is that they prevent serious shocks and jars to and liability of breakage of the axles or wheel flanges, in shifting the car oil oit or onto the track. They further serve as supports, when the car is removed from the track, to prevent the wheels from sinking down into sott soil, and for supporting the car where no rest or set-olf is available, so that it may be again easily shifted back onto the track. Another material and important advantage of the invention is that the rails 21 and 22 may be applied to sills ol existing cars in use, with a gain of the advantages stated, and with the further advantage of enabling frail car frames t0 be strengthened so as to give better and longer service.

Having thus fully described my inven tion, I claim:

1. In a railway car, a frame having a sill at each side, flanged wheels lying outside the sills, and rails extending longitudinally beneath and terminally secured to the sills and having body portions depending from the sills throughout the distance between the front and rear wheels, said body portions of the rails lying in a plane parallel with and close to and just above the plane of the lower surfaces of the track engaging peripheries of the wheels.

2. In a railway car, a frame having a` sill at each side, front and rear flanged wheels at each side, and angle metal rails extending beneath the sills and-terminally secured thereto, the rails having their bodv portions depending beneath the sills throughout the distance between the front and rear Wheels, said body portions of the rails lying in a lane parallel with and close to' and just a ove the plane of the lower'surfaces of the track engaging peripheries of the wheels.

3. In a railway car, a frame having a sill at each side, front and rear flanged wheels at each side l ing outside the sill, and rails beneath the sllls, each rail cmprising a length of angle metal having a body portion, end portions and offset portions conneoting said body portions with the iend portions, the said portions of the rails being secured to the sills so as to dispose the body portions of the rails a distance below the sills and to extend throughout the distance between front and rear wheels in a horizontal plane just above the plane of the lower portions of the peripheries of the wheels.

4. In a railway car, a frame having a sill at each side, sets of front and rear flanged wheels at the sides of the frame lying outside said sills, and combined guard and skid rails, one at each side of the frame, secured to said sills, each rail having its body portion depressed relatively to its ends and extending the full dist-ance bet-Ween the wheels at its side of the frame, said body portions of the rails lying in a horizontal plane adjacent to and just above the plane of the lower surfaces of the track engaging peripheries of the wheels.

5. In a railway car, a frame having inner and outer pairs of superposed sills at one side and a single sill at its opposite side, bearings carried by said pairs of inner and outer sills and arranged between the superposed sills at each pair, cross pieces conneoting the pairs of sills at one side of the frame with the single sill at the other side of the frame, bearings carried by said cross pieces above said single sill, front and rear anged wheels at each side of the frame located outside of the sill and journaled in said bearings, and a combined guard and skid rail at each side of the frame, one arranged beneath the single sill and the other beneath the lower sill of the inner pair of pairsbf sills, said rails being secured to said sills and having body portions de pressed below the plane of their ends, the body portions of the rails extending the full distance between the front and rear wheels and arranged in a horizontal plane close to but just above the horizontal plane of the lower portions of the track engaging peripheries of the wheels. i

In testimony whereof I aiiix my si ature. HAWKINS E. ROB ON. 

